An existing function today is the “Routing behind MS” feature supported by the Ericsson GGSN-MPG (Gateway GPRS Support Node-Mobile Packet Gateway), where a single UE (User Equipment) acts as a router for several devices and where the Radius served assigns a subnet to this UE/router instead of a single IP address. The subnet is used by the devices connecting to the UE/router. There are also devices that act as gateways with NAT (Network Address Translation) capabilities, where a northbound interface connects with a mobile communication network through HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) or LTE (long term evolution) and a southbound interface is WiFi based and connects with wireless devices. Such a gateway hides the existence of the southbound connected devices, and is seen by the mobile network as a single mobile.
The implementations described above make use of the subscription of the UE router that is connecting to the LTE base station. If a mobile router is used, all the users located on the southbound interface share the subscription of the mobile router.
As another separate concept, EPS (3GPP Evolved Packet System) can support the concept of a donor eNB (donor enhanced NodeB or DeNB for short) supporting the LTE relay. The DeNB has a modified version of the E-UTRAN (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) radio interface, the modified version referred to as the Un interface. This allows 3GPP LTE based devices to connect to the eNB through the DeNB.
If Relay model is used instead for UEs connecting via another mobile device, the model assumes that the mobile devices use the E-UTRAN radio interface. As such, it is desirable to achieve the relay function, where each device connects through its own subscription, but uses a different radio interface such as WiFi.